Finding your chi

Wolseley

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This article was published 24/01/2024 (633 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Here’s a quick exercise: put both heels on the ground, move your arms to your sides, and wave both of your hands. Do they feel tingly? That may be your ‘chi.’

The Winnipeg chapter of the Canadian Tai Chi Academy — which currently hosts classes in Wolseley and Oakbank — is holding an interactive open house on Wednesday, Jan. 31 in the basement of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church (95 Walnut St.), where its Wolseley classes are held once a week.

Between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m., curious folks are invited to stop in, get a taste of tai chi, and potentially register for an upcoming beginner program — set to run through until April.

Tai chi is an ancient martial art of Chinese origin. It’s primarily used for health, as you use every part of your body — primarily the bones and joints, but also the brain, the circulatory system, muscles, and more. It is different from other forms of exercise, as practitioners gain energy as opposed to burning it.

The moves of tai chi — of which there are 108 — are categorized using the names of various animals, which represent the different parts of the body they’re benefiting. Dragon, for example, is the spinal cord.

Cliff Yerex, the class’s instructor, has been practicing tai chi for approximately 30 years. He took on the martial art after falling into an extreme rut of burnout.

“I’m a big softie and I was working with an energy healer,” Yerex said. “He said ‘You’re too yin. You don’t have enough yang.’”

He was told to try akido, a different martial art with more of a focus on self-defense, but found tai chi instead.

“You get quite energized after,” Yerex said. “Like, if you have a week-long workshop. Oh my goodness. During the week, you need less and less sleep … It frees up energy that’s used in stress and tension, you get to use that energy more.”

Yerex said he has dealt with joint issues throughout his life. If it weren’t for both practising and instructing the martial art, he said, he would most likely be in a wheelchair.

“I shook so bad, my nerves were so horrible. … If I didn’t have tai chi, I don’t know what I would have done. Because I’d get into class, and 15 minutes later… It was like somebody pressed the reset button, you know, and I’d have this rest from my stress.”

Because of its health benefits, tai chi classes are encouraged for just about everyone. If you can’t walk, you can practice chair tai chi. If your mobility is off, you find your own niche — as demonstrated by Yerex’s students. One struggles with multiple sclerosis and another is waiting for new knees. Another began tai chi because of a constant physical tension caused by stress.

Trish Hogue, a student of three years who considers herself “beginner-intermediate,” originally took up tai chi owing to a health issue..

”I saw the martial art aspect and (that) it was pretty health-coded,” she said. “(It seemed) like something cool that I could do, and it wasn’t super-aggressive or combative.

“It’s very accessible for everyone, and you can take it as far as you want,” Hogue continued. “There’s this whole community within it, in here, (as well as) in other pockets around Canada … There’s some people who been doing it for a really long time, and there’s some great teachers. It’s just really cool to learn something very beneficial and very old.”

For more information on tai chi or local classes, visit canadiantaichiacademy.org or reach out to Yerex at winnipeg@canadiantaichiacademy.org